The YouTube series pays tribute to Doctor Who. Discuss the series creator and rising popularity. Lastly, perhaps list a couple of memorable episodes for people new to the series to watch.
Anyone can publish a video on the web. There are series that have gone one for years, the Junior and Chef Pee Pee videos, the Game Grumps. An article that compares and contrasts the good, bad and ugly of "home-made" web-video series would be fascinating. What's popular, what's good, what's awful and why? And why are they so popular?
It would have to be well established as to what makes a "good" or "bad" video. Is it production, content, etc? – Ryan Errington10 years ago
How To guide: How to take advantage of the commercial gains from YouTube vlogging and become an instant celebrity. How has logging and online content surpassed TV and print so quickly?
Some general things that are noteworthy: YouTube algorithms on views, subscribed content, and general accessibility of videos; accessibility of internet content over physical media; the shortened and intellectually more easily consumable nature of internet content (or more specifically Youtube; can't really say the same about /r/atheism and the like :P); demographic information and age appeal. – Austin10 years ago
How to separate the best YouTube critics from the bad ones? What makes these people/crews so alluring and intelligent? How did/do they stand out from the mass number of ambitious reviewers across the world?
This idea is great, but Ryan Errington recently wrote an article that discussed YouTube critics. Luckily, he was comparing them to actual film critics, and wasn't really talking about the separation between a good and a bad internet critic. You could certainly talk about how some critics (like TheReelRejects) are fun to watch, but aren't all that analytical in their work. I remember watching some of the reviews on their YT channel and realizing that not a single movie they talked about got a bad review. This isn't necessarily bad, but it also lacks seriousness. It's too much like you and a couple of friends got together to talk about how cool the surface details (e.g. performances, music, and special effects) were, but completely forgot to talk about the themes and morals that the story presented. In contrast, there are many film critics and analysts on YT that offer wonderful insights into how movies are made and how they are meaningful works of art. Tony Zhou of Every Frame a Painting is a great example, as is Chris Stuckmann. Also, you could talk about how some critics are more theatrical in their approach to reviewing films, like Doug Walker of Nostalgia Critic fame or Mike Stoklasa, who created the now famous Mr. Plinkett series and who co-created Half in the Bag, which is a fairly laid back program that seriously discusses movies, with some silly (one may call them flat out stupid) comedic interludes. Whether it's a list, or just a division of each kind, there is a whole lot of material for this topic. – August Merz10 years ago
It seems more and more people these days are turning to YouTube as a source of income, particularly in the let's play department. People like GameGrumps, Markiplier, and Versus all entertain us with their videos on YouTube, and I wonder what kind of impact this is having on the world, since YouTube and gaming videos in general seem to be "in" right now. Feel free to also discuss the similarities and/or differences in how the aforementioned let's players approach their medium and audience. I also suggest watching their videos (possibly draw my life, if there are any) to be familiar with their work before writing on this topic.
I feel like this could be a very important conversation topic. Also, since Youtube pays depending on how many minutes are spent watching a video, the Let's Players can often get paid a lot more than independent and creative artists because their videos are naturally longer. – Jemarc Axinto10 years ago
I think it also important to mention that many Lets Players provide other content on their channels too. For example Markiplier has some comedy sketches along side his lets play videos. – Cagney10 years ago
An analysis of Youtube's influence of rising stars as well as their decision to cancel accounts for independent artists.
Jemarc, this is great. I was just in a conversation where people were talking about this topic. I could not add to much to the conversation but would like to see an article by someone who knows this subject matter so I will be a little more educated and there are probably others out there like me. So great idea! – Venus Echos10 years ago
Jemarc- I know that this isn't exactly on your topic, but it relates. A contestant on the most recent season of Survivor (Survivor 30) was cast because of his viral video on YouTube. This video was of him and his wife dancing at a gas station. My point is that it would be interesting to see how viral videos can create avenues for fame or success. – bookworm2g910 years ago
